What is Church Really?

What is church? Who is the Church? Last letters of the Apostle Paul. Music by Sara and Jon Greene https://www.patreon.com/speaklifechurchpodcast   What is the church?  The church can be understood in two ways: the visible and the invisible. The visible church is comprised of all who claim the name of Christian and who gather together for worship and participation of the sacraments: the Lord's Supper and Baptism. The members of the visible church claim the name of Christian. But, the visible church contains both believers and non-believers. In other words, there are people in the visible church who are not really saved. The members of the invisible church are the actual body of believers. They are the ones who are truly regenerate and have trusted, by faith, in the true Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. The true Christian is indwelt by the Lord Jesus (John 14:23) through the Holy Spirit. Therefore, the Christian church is figuratively said to be the body of Christ. * Rom. 12:5, "So we, who are many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another." * Eph. 4:12, "For the equipping of the saints for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ." The word "church" comes from the Greek "ekklesia" which means "gathering" or "assembly." Therefore, the church is the gathering of the believers who come together to participate in fellowship with one another as they worship God and hear from His Word, the Bible. The church as a whole has been equipped with people possessing different spiritual gifts (Rom. 12:5-8). The purpose of the gifts is Eph. 4:12-13, "for the equipping of the saints for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ; 13 until we all attain to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ." https://www.patreon.com/speaklifechurchpodcast  https://giv.li/p2nj61   https://paypal.com/us/fundraiser/charity/3587637     You can support the ministry by check or money order by sending it to Speak Life Church, PO BOX 2, upper Marlboro, MD 20772